May Gardening group

For this months gardening group meet up some of our ladies went to Hatchlands Park, part of the National Trust. The first view from the car park was of their stunning wisteria. 

The weather was very kind to us as the predicted rain didn't arrive and allowed us to take a rather leisurely walk around the parkland. 

Afterwards we all headed to the cafe for a well deserved coffee and cake. The coffee and walnut cake was particularly good! The plants which were for sale also caught the eye of some of our ladies, with one at least juggling two trees back to the car park!!

 

Gin Trip

Last Saturday a group of our lovely ladies, plus one honorary WI gentleman went to visit the Bombay Sapphire Distillery in Laverstoke. We were incredibly lucky with the weather as the sun shone for us all day. The coach dropped us off for our tour at 10:30am and after having a great time exploring the old paper mill and brand new (and rather striking) glass houses we spent some time in the aroma room. This was lots of fun as each of chose our favourite aromas, the results of which were used later on to make our personal cocktail. Most of us then had a tour of the working distillery and met Thomas and Mary, the original copper stills. From here we were to The Mill Bar and sat in the sun sipping our freshly made cocktails. 

After popping into the shop for a few essentials (it would be rude not too!) we headed back to the coach where we were taken into the local town of Whitchurch for some lunch. After a little walk past the local Silk Mill and many ducks we all decided to head to The Red House pub for some lovely lunch and of course some more gin! Considering we hadn't booked the staff were brilliant and everyone managed to enjoy a leisurely lunch before the journey home. 

It was a lovely day with lots more Spike WI memories made

May Meeting

This month we were joined by Jane Spencer, who gave us a great talk on Homeopathy. Whilst opinions may still be divided, we all agreed it was an insightful evening!

We also voted for the WI resolutions, both of which provoked discussion. We also granted our delegate discretion on the day and wait to hear the outcome.

Please contact us if you are interested in the Gin tour on the 14th May, we still have some space!

April Gardening Group

This month the gardening group visited the Loseley Spring Garden Show and had a wonderful time. The gardens were in full Spring swing with tulips and euphobias in flower. There were also lots of garden, plant and homeware stalls for us to look around. It was really lovely to have a good turn out of ladies including some new faces.

April Meeting

This month we welcomed Majestic wines for the second year, they did not fail to impress us. It was a great evening had by all and we certainly learnt a lot. 

Stu Henshaw Saturday 19th March

We had a fanastic evening at the Spike on the 19th March, where we had an evening with Stu from the Bake off! We also had a delicious meal prepaerd by Sophie - thanks! We also had our own bake off which Stu judged- well done to all the contestants.

Stu is local to us and works as a music teacher and is in a band. He gave us some interesting inside information to the Bake off and how intense it really is. He is also working on some great projects, one of which will be local so keep your eyes peeled. For those of you who couldn't make it, you missed out.

February has been a busy month for the Guildford Spike WI - and we are only a week into the month. We welcomed Mane Chance Sanctuary this month to our meeting. It was fascinating to hear about a local charity that does so much for the horses that they rescuse but also they contribute to the community in a big way. If you haven't been to visit check out their website for their open Sundays. 

http://www.manechancesanctuary.org 

We also welcomed many new members and guests! We are certainly growing in numbers.

This weekend we returned to the Vintage fair at the Cathedral, hosted by the Boiler room. As per usual the ladies baked their socks off and most items were sold! Thank you to all who helped bake and provided preserves but also to those who represented us on the day.

Muriel doing a spot of advertising!

Delicious Jammie Dodgers! 

Gardening group Wisley visit

After some illness and rain delays many of the lovely gardening ladies managed to get to see the butterflies at RHS Wisley last week. We were surprised at the number and variety of butterflies on show so early in the season and the new butterfly box section was lots of fun and very informative too. Of course there was coffee, cake and chatter to be had at in the cafe afterwards. 

We are looking forward to visiting Longacres garden centre next month. 

January

January kicked off with a fabulous start! We welcomed many new members and guests- they had heard on the grapevine that we were great!

After our fabulous Christmas party, we wondered how we would muddle through the January blues. Our meeting blew them all away- we welcomed Suzette Jones who taught us various meditation and mindfulness techniques. We all left feeling much lighter! Thank you Suzette!

Suzette also sold us some fabulous things that support a charity in the Philipenes.

Please check the wesbite for various group meetings and please get baking for the vintage fair (details to follow in full).

November was a very busy month for the Guildford Spike WI. We hosted our first craft fair! It was Christmas themed and we invited other stall holders to come. We sold items that had been made by our fabulous craft and chatter group. Plus home-made chutneys and cakes. The event was a great success! 

We were then invited back to the Holy Trinity Christmas fair, where we sold some more of the items that had been made for the craft fair!